


Falling

by Aintzane411



Category: Static Shock
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Blood, Character Death, Major Character Injury, Richie has another power in addition to being a genius, Sad Ending, Universe Alteration, but i'm terrible at titles, so many feels oh god, stupid title I know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-28 05:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2721206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aintzane411/pseuds/Aintzane411
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There were sirens in the distance, and the police officers were running forward to help. Out of the corner of his eye, Richie saw Hotstreak fly away. It hadn’t worked. They hadn’t caught him."</p><p>Or the one where Richie tries his best to protect Virgil, but fails.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling

Richie hissed in pain as he gingerly stitched the wound in his side. He hadn’t been paying enough attention while working on a new invention in the gas station and accidentally set it off. The weapon fired, sending an electrified arrow directly into Richie’s torso. It had hurt like a bitch, and should have killed him. But, unsurprisingly, he wasn’t dead.

This was the final piece of evidence that Richie needed to confirm his hypotheses. He was immortal. Or pretty damn close to it, at least. He didn’t have any sort of healing powers, regretfully, but it seemed like his body could withstand an immense amount of damage without giving up.

His first tip had been back when he got shot, even though his powers hadn’t quite kicked in yet. It turned out that the bullet had severed a major artery. He had lost a lot of blood, and the doctors went on and on about how lucky he was to be alive. But now Richie knew otherwise.

Once his injury was taken care of, Richie took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. The needle he had used was laying on his desk, covered in blood. His hands were sticky red, as well as his side and the floor beneath him. Wincing, he stood and began to clean. The last thing he wanted was for Virgil to walk in and see him covered in blood. Richie would tell him soon, but not like that.

* * *

The next day, the two had just finished patrol and were sitting on the clock tower. It had been a slow day, which Richie was extremely grateful for. His side was throbbing as it was, and a fight with a Bang Baby would have made everything worse.

“So, how’s that new invention going?” asked Virgil. “You spent an awful lot of time on it yesterday. Any progress?”

Richie shrugged. “I guess.”

“Not going well, then, I take it?” Virgil chuckled.

“Actually, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Everything all right?”

“Technically? Yes,” Richie answered slowly. “I’ve done some observations, and–”

He was cut off by Virgil holding up a hand to stop him. His other hand was held to his ear, charged with electricity. “Hotstreak,” Virgil said, listening to the police radio waves intently. “He broke out again. He’s downtown at the bank. Possible hostages.” He turned to Richie. “I hate to cut you off like that, but–”

“It’s okay,” Richie said, putting on his helmet. “We’ll talk later.”

Virgil grinned and slipped his mask on. “Let’s go.”

The two took to the skies and quickly arrived at the bank, where Hotstreak was hurling fireballs at the officers. There were no hostages in sight, thankfully.

“Hotstreak!” Static cried, getting the criminal’s attention. “You know our drill. Pick your poison: the easy way or the hard way?”

Hotstreak flipped them off and sent a blast of flames at them, causing the duo to dive out of the way. Gear rolled his eyes as he stood. “Hard way it is, then.”

It was two-on-one, but Gear had to pull back a little for fear of ripping his stitches. Hotstreak was relentless, throwing blast after blast of flames that came way too close for comfort. All his energy and anger from six months of jail time was directed straight at Static and Gear.

Eventually, Static hopped on his disk and sped through the air, hoping to direct Hotstreak’s blasts away from the officers still on the scene. He was having none of it, however, and a white-hot inferno heated Static’s disc to its melting point, causing him to jump back to the ground. He darted out of the way of the molten metal that fell around him.

“Aw, come on, man,” Static whined. “That wasn’t cool.”

“I’m not up for playing games, asshole,” Hotstreak growled. “I’m out of here.” He fired flames beneath him to propel into the air.

“Gear!” Static called, running towards his partner. Gear grabbed Static tightly, and they both shot into the air, following Hotstreak. “I’m gonna try to hit him,” Static said, charging one hand while clinging on tightly with the other. Gear nodded, focused on flying, and Static let loose. The first few bolts of electricity missed, but the last one was a direct hit that sent Hotstreak falling to the roof of a half-built building that was easily ten stories tall. There were gaps in the concrete where the roof hadn’t quite been finished yet, and the thin layer of gravel gave little traction.

When Gear and Static landed, Hotstreak was just getting up. He walked with a limp and was clutching his shoulder, but otherwise still seemed intent on fighting. He sent flames at them, driving them apart, before charging full-speed at Gear, who threw himself to the side to avoid being shoved into one of the gaps. Both he and Hotstreak struggled to keep their balance before steadying themselves and stepping away from the edge.

Gear fired up his rockets to get some more distance between them, but with a mighty roar, Hotstreak let loose a blast that hit Gear directly in the chest. His concentration interrupted, he plummeted back to the roof. He managed to tuck and roll, preventing too much pain, but a quick glance down revealed major damage to his skates. Now both heroes were flightless, and Hotstreak knew it.

Static threw blast after blast at the criminal, who was retaliating with just as much fervor. The two slowly drew closer together, their each blow getting nearer to its target. Gear’s mind was churning, looking for a solution. He winced as a bead of sweat stung the wound on his side.

_That’s it._

There was no more time for thinking. Hotstreak and Static were now fighting face-to-face, their hands bright with power. When Static gained the upper hand for a split second and pushed Hotstreak a few steps back, Gear seized his chance. Taking inspiration from Hotstreak’s earlier attack, Gear ran full-speed forwards, giving him a tremendous shove. Hotstreak lost his balance, slipping on the gravel underfoot. His hands flailed, searching for something to hold on to, and they found Gear’s arm. Together, they toppled over the edge of the building, narrowly missing a crane that was sitting there.

“Gear!” Static screamed from above.

Time seemed to crawl. Hotstreak immediately released Gear, who braced himself for the impact with the sidewalk below that would be excruciating, but not deadly. When he looked up, however his blood ran cold.

Static had jumped from the roof. Gear didn’t know if he planned to save him somehow, but he knew it was a mistake. Static streamlined his body and was at Gear’s side in an instant, and the two wrapped their arms around each other.

“Richie, I–” Virgil shouted over the wind.

“You’re so stupid!” cried Richie, tears streaming down his face.

Virgil shook his head. “I can’t–”

He was cut off by a sickening thud. They had reached the ground. Richie had ended up under Virgil, in hopes of protecting him from the impact. And it might have worked… if it weren’t for…

Richie looked down and saw a piece of rebar a quarter inch in diameter piercing straight through both of the teenagers. It entered in the small of Richie’s back and exited his stomach before impaling Virgil in a similar manner as well. There was blood everywhere, and Richie could hardly breathe through the pain.

“V-Virgil?” he croaked, gently shaking his friend. “Virgil, please. Wake up. Please!”

There were sirens in the distance, and the police officers were running forward to help. Out of the corner of his eye, Richie saw Hotstreak fly away. It hadn’t worked. They hadn’t caught him. He turned back to Virgil, who still hadn’t opened his eyes. Sobs began to escape Richie, which intensified the pain, but it was nothing compared to the agony of losing Virgil.

“No!” he cried desperately. “Oh, God, no! Virgil, please, no!” His pleading continued as the paramedics arrived and gingerly lifted Static off the metal bar. They whisked him away as others tended to Gear, who could barely stay conscious. He kept his eyes trained on Virgil as the paramedics tried to revive him.

They didn’t succeed.

* * *

It took Richie weeks to be able to leave the hospital. He was in a wheelchair for months after. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing did. He hardly ate or slept. He stopped going to school. Eventually, the press stopped wondering if Gear would ever return. A new hero stepped up to protect Dakota. He wasn’t needed anymore.

He eventually confirmed his immortality through means that weren’t exactly scientific. Four suicide attempts was enough evidence he needed. No matter what he tried, nothing worked. He hated that he was putting his remaining friends and family through so much anguish, but he didn’t know what else to do. Richie had killed his best friend, and now he had to live with it. Forever.

Years passed, and not much changed. Richie still aged, but very slowly. He figured that perhaps one day he might die of old age. But he might not. Either way, it was a long time to wait. Time passed and he watched his loved ones die. His family, Virgil’s family, his friends. After a while, there was no one left. He had no one.

No one except for the faded and torn picture that he kept in his pocket. It was a picture of Virgil, and it was the only thing that kept him going throughout his endless life.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt that can be found here: http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/104011945888/person-a-is-immortal-and-person-b-is-mortal
> 
> But seriously, this is so freaking angsty i'm so sorry this was painful to write but i couldn't pass it up oh god i'm sooo sorry D:


End file.
